Fair leader



Sept. 25, 1923.

V. F. JEWETT FAIR LEADER Filed Aug. 26 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v. F. JEWETT FAIR LEADER Sept. 25, 1923.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 26. 1922 Patented Sept. 25,1923.

its

VERNON r. JEWETT, or PORTLAND, onneo t' rain LEADER.

Application filed August 26, 19225 Serial No. 584,530. I

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, VERNON 'F. Jnwn'r'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, county of Multnomah,inthe State of Oregon, have invented a new and useful Fair Leader, of which the following is a specification. V

My invention relates to devices for guiding the line to the drum on logging eilgines and winding engines of any'character that require a-leadblock, rollers or other devices to guide a line onto a winding drum, and the invention consists in the improved constructionand devices as shown in the accompanying drawings, and described in this-specification and the claims appended, thereto.

which disclose .a preferred application of my new invention. Thesaid drawings are part of this specification.

V Fig. I is a side elevation of my new fairleader with parts broken awa to better dis closeits construction. Fig-Jr is a front elevation of my new fairleader' and Fig. III

is a sectional view taken on the line III III, Fig. II. Fig; IV is aside elevation showing a hauling rope making an angle in a vertical plane andpulling at 45 below horizontal. Fig. V is a front elevation with the hauling rope leading down 45 from a horizontal'plane and 22% out of the vertical plane. The purpose of these illustrations being to show that the fairleader will assume a position giving. a fair lead from the fairleader to the winding drumand from the load to the'fairleader, regardless of the position of the load with relation to the said winding drum. I

A pedestal 20, comprising av base portion 20 and a retaining ring 20", is securely within the. said retaining ring 20 com-- prises a carrier for two sheaves, a guide sheave 22, the axis of which is coincident with one of the axes of the said movable member 21, and. a load sheave 23, theaxis of which is not coincident with any axis of the movable member 221. Suitable bearings for the guide sheave 22 andthe load sheave are shown at 22 and 23'.

It is not necessary that the movable mem V V 'ber 21 be a complete sphere as a sufiicientdegree of motion within the retaining ring 20to adapt-it to all desirable movements may be secured by constructing spherical;

shaped surfaces approximately as shown, and by providing stops as-shown at 21 to prevent the movable member 21 from com-v ing out of the retaining ring 20? after it has been lnserted. I

A windingdrum, not shown, will be assumed to be on the side of the fairleader indicated by the arrows in Fig. I and Fi i IV and behind the fairleader in Fig. 11'

and Fig. V, and it will be apparent to any tions appertains that inasmuch as the'rope '24 passes through the movable'member'21 one skilled in the art to which this inven at a point eccentric to the axis of the said movable member 21, that whena strain is applied to the rope 24:, the movablemember 21. will move'in the retaining ring 20" to a point where a linefrom the axis'of the mov' able member 21, through the axis of the load sheave 23, will bisect the. angle thatis supplementary adjacent to the angleiof di vergence of the rope on any plane, asshown in Fi' IV, thus comprising a perfect fairleader that willv at all times lead a rope fair to a winding drum. and from a load straight over the center of the load sheave 23 with out appreciable wearing effect upon either the-rope, the fairlea'der orthe sheaves.

The structure as hereinbefore described:

and illustrated presentsa means of holding the sheave 25 in the bi ht of the rope 2e under tension and permitting the tension onthe rope 24 to influence the position of the said she-ave 25 and through it the mov able. member 21 to bring it into afairleading position. It will be'noted that therope 24 may move in anorbital path about :the center of rotation of themovable -member 21 in a vertical plane and through an orbital ,pathin any other plane, thus providing the greatest possible latitude'of movement, this accomplishment beingrendered possible by support-ingthe movable fairleadlng structure by spherical points'of contactoutside of the orbit of the rope. I

Removable wearing plates 525 are shown attached to that part of the movable member 21 with which the rope 24: will contact in swinging the said movable member 21 within the retaining ring 20".

it is evident that considerable departures may be made from the construction shown in the drawings without departing from the principles of my invention. For example, the retaining ring 20 may be made of adifferen width and the movable member 21 may be made more nearly truly spherical, or under certain circumstances the sheaves may be dispensed with entirely and a passageway for the rope 2 1- be provided at a point eccentric to the axis of the movable member 2i for light service. Having thus fully disclosed my invention in a manner that will permit anyone skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a fairleader, a ring member, the inner surface of said ring member fashioned to form a hollow zone having two bases, each of which is of less diameter than the central portion of said Zone; means for supporting said ring member; a movable member having spherical surfaces adapted to fit movably within said ring member; a ropeway through said movable member at a point eccentric to the center of rotation of said movablemember; plural sheave means for maintaining the relative position of a rope that shall pass. through said ropeway with respect tov said center of rotation whereby the said rope is maintained at a predetermined distance from said center of rotation t provide leverage for rotating the said movable member to a fairleading posi tion under the influence of rope tension.

2. In a fairleader, a ring member, the inner surface of said ring member fashioned to form a hollow Zone having two bases, each of which is of less diameter than the central portion of said Zone; a movable member having spherical surfaces adapted to fit movably within said ring member, a passageway for a rope through said movable member at a point eccentric to the axis of said movable member; a sheave within said movable member having. an axis coincident with one of the axes of the said movable member and acting as a guide sheave; an other sheave within said movable member disposed in approximately the same plane as the first sheave and having an axis eccen tric to the axis of the said movable member and purposed to act as a load sheave for a rope, for the purpose specified and set forth.

3. In a fairleader, a ring member, the inner surface of said ring member fashioned to form a hollow zone having two bases, each of which is of less diameter than the central portion of said zone; means for supporting said ring member;a movable memposed therein that its grooved edge may sustain a rope at a desirable distance from the center of rotation of said movable member and between said edge and said center; a guide sheave in approximately the same plane as the load sheave and adapted to hold a rope in the grooved load sheave whereby the distance from the center of the rope to the center of rotation of said movable member is utilized as leverage to rotate the said movable member to a fairleading position by tension applied to a a rope passing through saidropeway. 4;. In a fairleader of the character described, a ring member, the inner surface of which is fashioned a a portion of a hollow sphere; a movable member of the character described, freely turnable within said ring member; a ropeway through said movable member at a point eccentric to the axis thereof; a plurality of sheaves disposed within said movable member and freely turnable therein, having grooves in the rims thereof for a rope to work inand saidsheaves disposed in the same plane in such a manner that the respective grooves form a substantially circular ropeway at a predetermined distance from the arms of the said movable member, for the purpose specified.

5. In a 'fairleader adapted to automa ica-lly adjust its position according to the angle of a rope passing through it; the combination of a ring member, the inner surface of which is fashioned to form a zone having two bases which are geometrical small circles; a movable member having spherical shaped surfaces adapted to fit movably within said ring member; a ropeway through said movable member at a point eccentric to the axis of said movable member; a sheave within said movable member having a grooved rim for a rope to work in; means for retaining a rope in said grooved rim at a point predeterminedly distant from the axis of said movable member and between the said sheave and the axis of said imova-ble member whereby the movable member may be rotated to a fairleading position under the influence of ropetension. 7 I

6. In a device of the character described, a fairleader comprising a fixed member that is a portion of a hollow sphere; a movable member adapted to freely turn therein in more than one plane; a passageway for a rope through said movable member at a point eccentric to the axis of said movable member; guides for said passageway comprising a grooved sheave provided with proper bearings and turnable Within said movable member and having an axis parallel with one of the axes or" the said movable member and acting as a guide sheave; and

another sheave within said movable member disposed in approximately the same plane as the first sheave and purposed to actas a 10 load sheave for a rope for the purposespeeified and set forth.

VERNON F. JEWETT. I 

